


Birds of a Feather Patrol Together

by Danny (DannyC)



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Character Death, Gen, Jason Todd is Robin, Jason and Dick are close
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-18 15:14:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9390530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DannyC/pseuds/Danny
Summary: They didn't get to go out patrolling together often, or, not as often as Jason wished they could. That was okay though; Dick had his own friends and his own team, and Jason in turn had Bruce. It worked out, even if Jason sometimes wished he had a team and friends to hang out with like Dick did. Or Dick to hang out with, friends be damned. That just made nights like tonight more special, Jason reminded himself as he grinned, feeling the air whoosh across his face as he grappled along behind Nightwing.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to note that Robin Jason in this is a combination of previous Robin Jason incarnations. I'm rather eclectic with what canon I like to follow, but the earlier comics in which Jason and Dick did start to sort of form a bond [albeit an unsteady and uncertain one] are what I'm going off of. In this, Dick and Jason aren't really /close/, but they are trying. 
> 
> Please be aware of the tags, a major character does die here.

They didn't get to go out patrolling together often, or, not as often as Jason wished they could. That was okay though; Dick had his own friends and his own team, and Jason in turn had Bruce. It worked out, even if Jason sometimes wished he had a team and friends to hang out with like Dick did. Or _Dick_ to hang out with, friends be damned. That just made nights like tonight more special, Jason reminded himself as he grinned, feeling the air whoosh across his face as he grappled along behind Nightwing. Patrols were supposed to be serious, and Bruce was always quick to remind him of that, but Jason felt too happy to wipe his smile away tonight. 

“Yahoo!” he cried as they swung, Jason just a beat behind the other. He quieted down as they neared the docks though, Jason well aware that this was a pretty serious case; he was fairly sure that Dick had only invited him along because Bruce was out working with the Justice League, and Jason had begged him for almost an hour to hang out with him. 

As they landed on one of the warehouses near the docks, Jason gazed out at the dark waters of the harbor before he began watching the men below them mill around, carrying large crates from a freighter boat into an adjacent building. “Careful,” Dick warned him quietly, “I told you, this is going to be pretty dangerous. They’re shipping weapons, and we have to be cautious,” Dick murmured to him, Jason hearing it easily through the comms since his voice was almost too low to properly hear from beside him.

“I got it,” Jason promised, sure of himself and ready. His earlier excitement quickly began melting into adrenaline, his pulse pounding loudly in his ears and throat as he watched the men below. I got it, he reminded himself, tamping down on his nerves as he shifted, looking to Nightwing. “What’s the plan?” he asked then.

The plan, as it turned out, seemed simple enough. Jason went in as a distraction, and Dick easily took the handful of goons out while they were unaware of his presence; the fight was over before it started, and soon enough Dick and Jason were standing among several unconscious men, and crates full of weapons. Panting slightly, Dick moved to Jason’s side and wrapped an arm around him, grinning down at him. “That wasn’t so bad, right Little Wing?” he asked, his smile just dopey enough to make Jason’s stomach flutter slightly. 

“Nope. Did’ja see? I was like _Wham!_ , and he was like _Ahhh!,_ and I was like _Pow_ , _Bam!_ , and he was all _Ugghhh_ ,” Jason informed, adding several hand movements in to accentuate his amazing sound effects. Dick held back a laugh, but it escaped in a fond chuckle as he ruffled the younger’s hair, his eyes shining behind his domino mask as he gazed down at Jason. The kid had come so far, he realized distantly. Jason just grinned more broadly as his curls were ruffled, his bangs curling at his temples as always. 

“I saw,” Dick promised, “Come on, I think that’s enough excitement for one night.” Jason had homework anyway, Dick was fairly sure, and no amount of patrolling was worth taking his new chance at an education away from him, in Dick’s opinion. He might not have enjoyed school as much as Jason did, but he recognized the importance of it, and Jason had been forced to go without it for too long.

“Yeah, okay,” Jason chirped in response; GCPD would be there any minute anyway, and they shouldn’t stick around for that, Jason knew. Together, the two of them turned away, Jason pausing to look back for one last proud expression of triumph over the men they'd left behind, only to see that one of the men was awake and out of his bindings, scrambling toward a busted crate nearby. 

“Nightwing–” Jason tried to warn, but as Dick turned around the man drew his gun, aiming it right at Jason before he pulled the trigger. Jason flinched, ducking down and covering his head with his arms, but a bullet never tore through him. He was sprayed with something wet and warm, tasting iron on his lips and tongue. He heard the man gasp, followed quickly by footsteps running in the opposite direction. 

“He’s getting away,” Jason said uncertainly, still shaken and frightened from being shot at. Who aimed a gun at a kid? What kinda creep did that? Jason knew plenty of people around here would, though. He’d known that since before his days as Robin.

Jason slowly uncovered his head, looking up to see that Dick was standing in front of him, curled over him protectively. “Dick?” Jason asked uncertainly, frowning as he slowly began to straighten, only to grunt when Dick stumbled faintly, bumping him before dropping to take a knee. Jason watched, slowly easing himself down beside the other. “Dick?” he tried again, pushing away Bruce’s voice in the back of his head, warning him against using names in the field. This didn’t count, he told himself.

Dick didn’t answer. He was far too focused, gaze slowly drifting down to his torso; there was blood there, just as there was blood spattered across Robin’s suit and face, staining him red. “Jay,” he began, or tried to, but blood bubbled up and oozed from his mouth, a little cough spattering more out into the air. He heard Jason gasp and wanted to tell him it was okay, he was okay, don’t be afraid. He couldn’t make words come up, only blood.

Jason panicked. He hit his distress beacon, then hit Dick’s, terrified for his brother and wanting his dad to come, to hold him and promise him everything was okay. “It’s okay, Bruce will come,” he claimed, though he was well aware Batman was in space. He could teleport down though, Jason told himself, he would teleport down. Jason still couldn’t tell where Dick had been shot, the dark suit making it too difficult to find the wounds in the dark, his fear and adrenaline making it impossible. “It’s okay, you’re gonna be fine,” Jason promised him quickly, “Boss is comin’ and he and Alfred will patch you up,” he assured, both to convince Dick and himself. 

Dick swayed slightly on his knee and, as he began to slump, Jason caught him as well as he could, easing him down so Jason could cradle his torso and head in his arms. “I got you,” he promised, letting Dick’s heavier body squish him if it meant holding him close. He didn’t know what to do. Some part of his mind supplied that he needed to press on the wound, apply pressure to slow the bleeding, so he used his hands to feel for it. It made him feel sick, his fingers dipping in where they shouldn’t, and drew a pained sound from Dick. “Sorry,” he supplied uncertainly, pressing his hands over the wound nevertheless. But Dick had been facing him, so that meant the bullet went in his back, and out here, he realized a little sickly; what was he supposed to do?

Shuddering, Jason decided to keep doing what he was doing, hoping his own body was supplying enough pressure where Dick laid against him. “It’s gonna be okay,” Jason promised him, swallowing past the taste of Dick’s blood in his mouth. God, it was all over him. Bubbling up between his fingers, coating his hands and spattered across his suit and face… “You’re gonna be fine,” he claimed quickly. 

He could feel Dick relaxing against him and for a moment, Jason thought that was a good thing. When his chest stopped rising with breath, Jason’s blood ran cold, terror spreading through his veins. “Dick? Dick! Wake up! Please, you gotta wake up,” he begged, tears that had filled his eyes quickly leaking down through the adhesive on his mask. “Dick, come on,” he begged, “Open your eyes. Please.” 

It was familiar, distantly, begging someone to wake up. He’d begged his Mom too, tried to rouse her before he’d run from his home, leaving her to be found by the neighbors. He didn’t run this time. It took several more moments for the police to arrive. Jason was pushed away, emergency personnel joining the mad dash to save Nightwing, an EMT trying to resuscitate him. Jason could hear them talking through the ringing in his ears. Too much blood, severe damage, hemorrhaging. 

When Bruce arrived, Jason was still sitting on the ground where he’d fallen, his hands curled close to his chest as he stared at Dick on that gurney, alone now. They’d stopped trying. He tried to think of what that meant, but he didn’t know, he didn’t want to know. Batman didn’t say a word to him, just went to his son and stayed at his side for a long moment. He said something to the police, arguing with the Commissioner for a moment before he turned away, gathered Dick into his arms, and began walking away from the scene. 

Jason didn’t know what to do. He stayed sitting on the ground for a long, long moment, until Harvey came over and gripped his shoulder, murmuring something to him. Jason felt himself being pulled up onto his feet, shoulders shaken slightly before his back was patted, and he was pushed in the direction Bruce had gone. Jason assumed he was supposed to walk, his brain shut down and body moving on autopilot as he followed in the direction Bruce had gone. 

He felt cold and wrong. Where was Dick? Was he okay? He distantly wondered if Bruce was angry, if that was why he hadn’t spoken to him, hadn’t looked at him. Dick would make it better, Jason told himself. Dick always made it better. He looked up then, gazing at the darkened sky. It was raining. Jason didn’t know when it had started, but he let the rain wash some of the blood from him, the rest sticking to his skin like a stain as he continued walking, making his way to the Batmobile parked just ahead. 

When he arrived, Bruce was lying Dick inside, so Jason moved to silently climb into the front. Dick should have gotten the front. He was older, taller, bigger. Jason was trembling, his whole body shaking violently. He was fairly sure Dick had been trembling too, before. Maybe he was cold. Jason hoped he wasn’t.

**Author's Note:**

> Fill of a prompt in which someone dies during patrol. If you have an idea that you want to be written, feel free to hit me up.


End file.
